Watch Night in Smithfield honors Emancipation Proclamation (video)

SMITHFIELD -- People in the Town of Smithfield brought in the new year by looking to the past.

Morrisville College professor Owen Corpin lead the Watch Night at the Smithfield Community Center after a brief prayer and song from Oneida Acting Mayor Max Smith.

"Certainly, the first Watch Night was a powerful, very moving time," Smith said before he offered a prayer to those who fell during the Civil War, asking that God forgive men and help guide them.

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The original Watch Night was the New Year's Eve of 1862 when former slaves waited for Jan. 1, 1863 and their freedom. This is the first year Smithfield observed Watch Night.

Smith sang a Civil War-era song about freedom, introducing the theme of the night's presentation.

"There has never been another time that I have sung that song in such an important place," Smith said. "It was in this place and many other places that former slaves found the inspiration to carry forth after the Emancipation."

"Even though the Emancipation didn't free the slaves indefinitely, it solidified a real hope of freedom for them," said Corpin. "It gave them hope."

Corpin shared anecdotes about the Emancipation and his time in the service that highlighted the executive powers of the president. Corpin said that when he served as a Navy pilot, President George Bush Sr. visited his unit, and demanded that the pilots be allowed to wear their jackets. Previously, they were not allowed to wear them outside of their planes because other soldiers did not have such "nice looking" uniforms.

Corpin explained that Bush Sr.'s use of executive power pales in comparison to the power Lincoln took advantage of to make his proclamation and the 13th Amendment realities.

"I can't imagine what it felt like to know that freedom was in my grasp," said Corpin. He went into detail describing the military element of the Emancipation -- how black soldiers could now fight for their freedom and former slaves were protected and cared for rather than treated as contraband.

The group moved from the Community Center to the Deli on the Green after Corpin's presentation for coffee.

A watch fire was lit on the green afterward to guide lost souls. The watch fire was initially used to guide soldiers back to their units at night after day long battles when men would get lost. According to Corpin, it still holds symbolic meaning in the military.

Corpin said that although the watch fire was not part of the original Watch Night, the symbolic flame would lead those African American servicemen who lost their lives during the Civil War.

"Former slaves waited because they knew that a whole new world was available to them after the Emancipation took effect," said Corpin. "We'd like to continue this program year after year as a fellowship."